Sierra Leone doctors issue strike notice amid COVID-19 crisis

The Sierra Leone Medical and Dental Association has issued a nationwide strike ultimatum to the government to meet all terms of payment as contained in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in April or face “a massive disruption” of healthcare services.

The ultimatum was issued on Wednesday June 3, 2020, barely 48 hours after low level COVID-19 responders went on strike.

Sierra Leone medical doctors issued the strike ultimatum to the government over non-payment of both allowances and incentives.

The association of doctors warned that failure to resolve the matter within 2 days will result in a massive disruption of healthcare services in the country.

The doctors’ warning is coming in reaction to a statement issued by the government on Tuesday, 2 June 2020, in response to the strike by the low level frontline workers, whose action hit hard the country’s COVID-19 response efforts.

On Wednesday 22 April of this year, the health care practitioners and the government signed an MoU, detailing the package and timeline to complete it.

Parts of the conditions in the MoU included a refund of PAYE tax deducted from their salaries, payment of risk allowances and other incentives as motivation on their job to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government, on Tuesday through the Ministry of Finance, said it had paid the tax refund and other risk allowances directly into the bank accounts of all frontline workers since Friday 29 May, 2020.

Different from what was issued by the government, the medical association in Sierra Leone (SLMDA) described the issue as a “farce”.

As of Wednesday, Sierra Leone had recorded 909 and 47 deaths from COVID-19 pandemic.